Types of heating (rentals, new home, neighborhood)

[movingnorth2]

I've never lived in a house.. and we are looking to rent first and then buy. Can anyone please comment on the different types of heat, pros and cons, and cost? I don't want to be surprised at the end of the month, stuck with a huge bill... we like to be warm, we have 2 young children but a huge heating bill will throw us off and we are on somewhat of a tight budget.... Most rentals has us paying that heating bill but it's hard to know ahead of time what it will cost.. all we know is that it's oil, gas or electric.. thanks Ill try to post a poll... not sure it will work.

[Weapon X]

Generally speaking, electric is the most expensive option; however, it's the cleanest and is 100% efficient. Natural gas and oil are less expensive, with natural gas being the cheapest right now (I think). Electric and natural gas are delivered right to your home and don't require deliveries. Oil requires deliveries and since you are storing it yourself, you'd have to decide when to buy it, since the price fluctuates, though there shouldn't be a large difference over a short period of time.

Because electric is more expensive, there should be a thermostat in each room to better control useage. Expect to be on the budge plan for electric. That means the electric company will monitor your useage for the first year, then divide your yearly amount by twelve so that you are paying the same amount each month afterwards. Without that, your electric bill could be extremely high in the winter due to heating. I mean REALLY high, possible $600 or more a month. After that first year, expect an average power bill of around $150, based on average useage.

The bottom line is that electricity, natural gas and oil are all commodities and, as such, fluctuate in price.

[movingnorth2]

Thanks.. we are in a one bedroom in the city and one time our bill got up to $400 -- ridiculous. Most of the time in the winter is about $200. We bought new storm windows that were supposed to keep the cold out but it still gets pretty chilly bc we have very large windows. We used to do fine with much less heat but since we had kids we tend to want to keep it warmer... the space heaters are always on but are killing us.. so it sounds like we are already spending in the ballpark that we'll spend, I hope... thanks for your input. Some rentals include the heating which is really nice so we don't have to be too concerned.. we'd be mindful of it but not so concerned. Tks

[josmyth]

but we have gas (forced hot air) and it is VERY expensive. For a 2400 sq ft house, our bill averaged $650 this past winter.

[metropolistraffic]

I believe I have Oil. House is over 3,500 and it's like. $800 every two months.

It's not entirely that bad. The house is well insulated, so we never raise it more than 66.

[Greatday]

Here in the Southwest, no one, and I mean NO ONE, uses oil for heating.

Electric or Natural Gas and, in some rare cases, Propane are the trick.

The cost has a lot to do with your service provider. If there are multiple providers in a region, it is often best to check out utility rates as part of the house hunting process.

[mead]

Oil is very common in the northeast. Nearly every house and building in my neighborhood is run on oil, you can see those oil trucks going all over the place in the morning.

Originally Posted by Greatday

Here in the Southwest, no one, and I mean NO ONE, uses oil for heating.

Electric or Natural Gas and, in some rare cases, Propane are the trick.

The cost has a lot to do with your service provider. If there are multiple providers in a region, it is often best to check out utility rates as part of the house hunting process.

[Viralmd]

I've had both oil and natural gas and MUCH prefer oil. Mostly because if anything goes wrong, getting things with natural gas fixed is a nightmare.

[Sergio M]

Originally Posted by Weapon X

Generally speaking, electric is the most expensive option; however, it's the cleanest and is 100% efficient.

This is completely untrue....Electric IS the most expensive, however, it the least efficient. Electricty needs to be produced then delivered. To produce electricity, some type of fuel needs to be burned, some turbines run on coal, some on oil, they are trying alternate fuels. This is not a clean process, Have you ever seen the emmissions from a powerhouse? Then there is maintainance. Maintaining the turbines, the transformers, the wiring right to your home, Storm damage to wiring is expensive maintainance as well. This is why electricity is the least efficient and possibly the biggest polluter.

I think a gas burner has the cleanest emmissions, together with steam radiators would make the system the most efficient. However, gas is a product of crude, and is combustible.

On the other hand, Oil comes from the ground, It may smell a little, but houses don't blow up from home heating oil.

[Greatday]

Originally Posted by Sergio M

This is completely untrue....Electric IS the most expensive, however, it the least efficient. Electricty needs to be produced then delivered. To produce electricity, some type of fuel needs to be burned, some turbines run on coal, some on oil, they are trying alternate fuels.

In the west, our electricty comes from Hydro-Electric (Hoover Dam) or Nuclear (Palo Verde) or soon - from Solar. Additionally, any number of new home have their own solar power generation for their electric needs (not just hot water).

No coal nor oil.